George Allan (left) and William Hutchinson, 1814 engraving by Joseph Collyer the Younger. George Allan (1736–1800) was an English

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

and

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Life

Allan spent much of his youth in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, where he was educated at

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is an independent, public school for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1591 at the request of leading citizens in Wakefield (headed ...

. He became an assiduous collector of manuscripts.

Works

He was the author of several works relating to the history and antiquities of

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

; he greatly aided

William Hutchinson William, Willie, Willy, Billy or Bill Hutchinson may refer to: Politics and law * Asa Hutchinson (born 1950), full name William Asa Hutchinson, 46th governor of Arkansas * William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge) (1586–1641), merchant, judge, ...

in his ''History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham''. He presented to the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

26 quarto volumes of a manuscript relating principally to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, which he extracted from the public libraries there. He possessed a printing press, with which he produced several works; among them was a reprint of

Robert Hegg Robert Hegge (1599–1629) was an English academic and antiquary. Life Born at Durham in 1599, he was the son of Stephen Hegge, notary public there, by Anne, daughter of Robert Swyft, LL.D., prebendary of Durham. On 7 November 1614, he was admi ...

's 1626 work, ''Legend of

St Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...

''.

Family

Allan married Anne Nicholson, and they had six children. The eldest son George Allan served as Member of Parliament for .

Notes

References

* Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, George 1736 births 1800 deaths 18th-century English historians English antiquarians English cartographers English printers History of County Durham People educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield People from Wakefield Writers from Darlington